Monthly archives for February, 2017

Microsoft and Apple have been against each other ever since they were founded. Apple’s battle against anyone trying to capture its look and feel has been since the 80s. But our favorite and oldest battle has always been between Microsoft and Apple. It all started with Xerox, the inventor of graphical user interface (GUI), but that’s another story. Right now, our focus is the latest invention by Microsoft that is obvious competition to Apple’s iMac and MacBook Pro combined! It took Twitter over by a storm and people couldn’t stop commenting on how Microsoft won this battle. Microsoft took the daring step and understood the age-old technique of Apple’s and used it back on them – design your own computer and pair it with your own software.

Microsoft released its own version of iMac and MacBook Pro combined and that is Surface Studio a sleek and all-in-one desktop with a mind-blowing design. Microsoft’s comeback with this beautiful device is now challenging iMac openly with its amazing concept and design along with the latest version of the OS – Windows 10. We are here to figure out how Microsoft’s Surface Studio managed to win this over the classic iMac.

Design and Style:
Regardless of whose fanboy/girl you are, we have to admit that both the designs are amazing. These two giant tech companies do know what’s pleasing in aesthetics and bowled us over with their look and feel. We also have to admit that there’s nothing new from Apple’s department. The design of iMac hasn’t changed much and remains mostly the same as older generations with an exception to it being a little more slimmer.
Yes, so both the monitors are slim but Microsoft wins this round because of the fact that it is even slimmer and unique in its design. It is the thinnest built all-in-one PC at 12.5mm.

Display and Weight:
The screen for Surface Studio looks like a whopping 28-inch 4,500 x 3,000-pixel display at 193 PPI and iMac has two options in this – a retina 21.5-inch 4096 x 2304 pixel screen or a 27-inch 5120 x 2880 pixel display at 217 PPI, or famously known as a 27-inch 5k iMac. Because of the two options that Apple has to offer unlike Microsoft, we are going to focus more on the 27-inch iMac than 21.5-inch iMac.
Well, Microsoft wins this round as well because even the 27-inch iMac doesn’t come with a PixelSense touchscreen feature that Surface Studio comes with. iMac doesn’t seem to offer anything new other than being slimmer than older models. The Studio, however, is built for those who are into art and is connected via Zero Gravity Hinge that enables the display to moved around at any angle. There’s a design mode which allows the users to use Surface Pen and Dial by making the screen back away from your face. Whatever the Dial changes on the screen, the Pen also gets the feedback of the change and matches it. It has an amazing split-in-the-middle Ergonomic On-Screen Keyboard and two spacebars as well as a wrist pad which consists of synthetic suede.

Both weigh around 9.5kg, so they are sort of equals in at least this category,

Hardware:
iMac has multiple options for this category and so does Surface Studio. They both come in three price category. So, we are going to battle against their high-end configurations to be fair to both the companies. Because they are both powerful machines we will start with Apple. The iMac comes with a 3.3GHz quad-core i5 or i7 processors, 8GB with configuration up to 32GB, 2TB Fusion Drive and AMD Radeon R9 M395 with 2GB memory.

Surface Pro is not doing badly at all in this department and ships with an i7 processor and 32GB RAM, 2TB Rapid hard drive and 4GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M. It’s a powerful beast for those who are into gaming as well! And, what OS is better than a Windows to play an awesome game?

The Surface ships with a 5.0MP which are front-facing 1080p with and the iMac come with FaceTime HD camera and supports a full native resolution. The speakers that come with Surface Studio is Stereo 2.1 with Dolby Audio Premium but iMac ships only with Stereo speakers.

The price tag is huge on the Surface Pro with starting range at $2999 and high-end at $4199. iMac comes with a price tag of $2999 for its high-end model making it look like a budget option when compared with Microsoft’s Surface Studio! Head over to cnet for an extensive review of the surface studio.

Conclusion:
Both are great models but we have, to be honest, and admit that Microsoft is upping their game in the fields of innovation and design even if means a hefty price tag. They are ready to change the economy and the way people think about them by also joining the field of A-class that Apple was famous for when buying a product, as who won’t be saying proudly that they own a Surface Studio now!